The tree in the small Maine town of Hebron is thought to be the tallest American chestnut in its native range.

HEBRON, Maine (AP) _ A Maine forester has measured what is believed to be the tallest American chestnut tree in its native range of the eastern U.S.

The 95-foot tree is located in some woodlands in the small Maine town of Hebron.

There are no official registries listing chestnuts by height, but officials with The American Chestnut Foundation say the Maine tree is thought to be the tallest in its native range stretching from Maine to Mississippi.

A state forester took its dimensions this fall as part of big tree contest in Oxford County.

The American chestnut tree was once one of the most dominant trees in the eastern United States. But a blight overtook the trees in the first half of the 1900s, wiping out most of the population by the 1950s.